CM silences BJP, BSY with ‘chargesheet’

Belgaum: A day after the opposition BJP and the breakaway KJP tried to make political capital out of the suicide of sugarcane farmer Vittal Bheemappa Arab­avi outside the Suvarna Soudha in a bid to embarrass the Cong­ress government, Chief Minister Siddara­maiah turned the tables on the BJP-KJP by repeatedly bringing up the follies of the previous BJP government headed by B S Yeddyurappa.

“You took the oath of office in the name of farmers and promised that your government will not resort to even a lathi-charge against them. What happened in Hav­eri within a week after you took over? You are seeking my resignation! Did you resign when the police opened fire at Haveri, killing two farmers? Farmers in Dava­ngere and Bellary, who agitated for a fair compensation for land acqu­ired by the government, were beaten up the pol­ice,” Siddara­ma­iah reca­lled, giving the KJP leader a telling off.

As BJP and KJP legislators attempted to derive political mileage in the Lingayat-dominated region by attending the funeral of the farmer at Kankanwadi, the Chief Minister asked “why, on an average, do 170 farmers end their lives every year despite the fact that programmes had been launc­hed for the benefit of the farming community by the BJP government.”

Curiously, he complimented arch rival Janata Dal (S) members and their leader H.D. Kumar­aswamy for not cashing in on the farmer's suicide in the Legislative Asse­mbly. JD (S) members recently lost two Lok Sabha bypolls, paying the price for backing the BJP. The JD(S), on Thur­sday, were careful not to take sides during the verbal duel between legislators from the ruling Congress on one hand and BJP and KJP legislators on the other.